The cargo carrying area of a pickup truck, van, sport utility or similar vehicle is often referred to as the “bed”. During certain types of transport it is desirable to include a storage container in a vehicle's bed to retain, for example, tools, equipment, supplies, groceries or other items to which ready and convenient access is necessary or desirable. A bed mounted toolbox represents one such storage container.
Many of the prior art bed-mounted toolboxes are inconveniently positioned. For example, the positioning of some toolboxes requires the user to lean over the sides of a truck bed to obtain a complete view of the contents. This design also makes it more difficult for items to be removed from the toolbox. Various configurations of prior-art toolboxes are described herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,669 (1984) to Waters, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,774 (1985) to Whatley and U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,944 (1990) to Waters, each disclose varying configurations of side-mounted toolboxes. The disclosed toolboxes are permanently affixed to the vehicle bed side panels and are also difficult to access and are not automatically closed when the vehicle's tailgate is up. Side-mounted toolboxes have the additional disadvantage of extending beyond the side panels, effectively eliminating the vehicle's capability of supporting bed toppers, and frequently adding to the overall width of the vehicle.
Another configuration of a side-mounted toolbox enables the toolbox to slide along rails which are affixed to the top or insides of the vehicle's side panels; however, they too are difficult to access due to their height and the need to reach over the vehicle's tailgate or vehicle side panels. Similar side-mounted configurations are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,326 (1985) to Tuohy III, U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,992 (1987) to Hamilton et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,377 (1989) to Hughes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,636 (1992) to Barajas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,959 (1992) to King, U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,277 (2002) to Wilding, U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,174 (2002) to Lance and U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,230 (20003) to Voves. These devices also have the disadvantage of extending beyond the vehicle's side panels, thus in most cases effectively eliminating the vehicle's capability of supporting toppers and frequently adding to the overall width of the vehicle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,083 (2001) Paulick et al, a set of wheels is mounted to the lower surface of a box which slides on rails mounted on the side panels. The addition of wheels allows the box to move when dismounted from the vehicle, but the aforementioned limitations of sliding systems still apply, and the box is limited in depth, as it must move over the intruding wheel wells.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,722 (1999) to Parri, a sliding toolbox or drawer system is proposed. The primary innovation or Parri is that the mounting rails may be raised or lowered in fixed increments, whilst remaining within the confines of the vehicle bed. This system suffers from the aforementioned limitations of the other full length bed sliding systems, and requires significant effort to reconfigure the adjustable mounting rails.
Several other methods for moveable truck mounted toolboxes. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,987 (1995) Sturgis, an external box is affixed to a side panel inside the bed and the internal enclosure rotates out towards the rear of the bed. The disadvantages of this method are limited size, the permanently mounted stationary enclosure, and the difficult access reaching over the tailgate. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,177 (2000) to Tijerina, a toolbox is mounted on rails attached to the inner walls of the side panels that angle up and over the wheel arches. The disadvantages of this method are difficulty in accessing the enclosure, difficulty lifting the enclosure over the wheel arches, and the non-automatic closure of the enclosure in its normal travel position. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,087 (2001) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,629 (2002) both to Lance et al, rear or front floor-mounted enclosures that are removable are proposed. The disadvantages of these proposals are the limited size of the enclosure, limited utility of the enclosure, and in the front mounted case, the difficulty of access. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,976 (2001) to Coleman et al, a side panel mounted sliding and rotating enclosure is proposed. The disadvantages of this proposal are the difficulty is accessing the enclosure and intrusion of the rail system on other bed uses. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,647 (2002) to Voves, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,274 (2002) to Mink et al, sliding systems mounted to the floor of the bed are proposed. The disadvantages of these systems are they prevent using the bed for any other purposes, and the enclosure is not readily portable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,719 (1999) to Carter Ill., an adjustable size storage enclosure that locks into the vehicle sidewalls is proposed. The primary innovation of this proposal is the ability to resize the internal enclosure by manually sliding the upper surface along brackets and then inserting retaining pins to hold it in place. The disadvantages of this system are its fixed mounting system, and the method of resizing the container.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,215 (1990) to Taylor, a storage device is proposed that fits into a portion of a truck bed and locks into place with a positioning and suction cup apparatus. The storage device can be removed by unlocking it, and it is portable. The disadvantages of this proposal are that it consumes the entire rear bed space, is not readily portable when loaded, and is difficult to access when in place.
Combination toolbox and workbenches are also known. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,822 (1983) to Rice, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,703 (1988) to Cimino, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,037 (1998) to Faulhaber, rolling workbench and toolbox combinations are proposed. The disadvantages of these proposals are they are not vehicle-mount ready, they have fixed size configurations, and limited ground clearance is provided.
Several methods have been proposed for lifting toolboxes or similar enclosures. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,866 (1999) to Scheibel, a self-loading transporter is proposed. The primary objective of this device is moving, loading, and lifting a container into a vehicle. The disadvantages of this proposal are that it does not provide an anchored and ready access toolbox when in the vehicle, it does not provide workbench capabilities, and it prevents other uses of the bed when loaded. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,973 (2003) to Fritter, a toolbox loading and unloading cart is proposed. The disadvantages of this proposal are that it has a fixed height, it does not provide toolbox or workbench capabilities, and it is not firmly affixed to the vehicle when loaded. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,624 (1990) to West, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,969 (1994) to Simnacher, permanently fixed systems are proposed for hydraulically lifting a toolbox within the confines of a vehicle. The disadvantages of these proposals are the permanence of the hydraulic systems, the difficulty of accessing the contents over the side panels, the limited functionality of the toolboxes, and the general complexity and cost of the hydraulics. In U.S. 2004/0207226 (2004) to Johnson, a truck storage and work surface tailgate is proposed. The unit is fixedly mounted attached to the tailgate, with a powered mechanism for extending and then lowering or raising the entire unit and vertically mounted tailgate to or from the ground. The disadvantages of this system are the space it consumes in the back of the truck bed, its lack of a true workbench surface, and its lack of accessibility while mounted.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,9644,492 (1999) to Lyon, a stowage receptacle is proposed for the rear area of a pickup truck bed. This unit mounts on slide rails in the bed, and slides out over the tailgate. The disadvantages of this system are its lack of workbench capabilities, its limited mobility when dismounted, the inability to raise or lower it, and limitation in weight carrying capacity because all of its weight must be supported by the slide rails.
All of the vehicle mounted toolbox systems are heretofore known suffer from some combination of the following disadvantages which include not being readily portable after being removed from the vehicle at a destination or jobsite, not readily reconfigurable to the proper height for workbench uses, do not provide workbench capabilities, do not allow for the use of the side panel rails for other normal purposes, do not allow for the use of the main bed for other normal purposes, inconvenient access to the contents of the toolboxes by virtue of mounting position, height, or reach and locking mechanism and subsequently the contents of the toolbox are not protected from tampering when the tailgate is closed.